Black and British?

Black and British?

Black and British or Black vs British?

Two concepts that mean so much to me yet in the eyes of many don’t make sense and cannot possibly connect

And how do I continue to walk away, aimlessly trying to at one point to pull them apart yet now trying to mould them back together?

Why did sounding ‘white’ not fulfil the criteria of being Black British but instead of one trying to run away from their race and own community simply because they are well spoken

How did we get here?

And how do we transcend from this point going forward?

When stereotypes are all around us consuming time

‘Consuming time’ you might question, but yes that is quite literally the case when prejudice and prejudgements can take up so much of one’s mental space, to the extent that they cannot see outside of it...

Growing up in an environment where people claim that society is not racist, yet coupled with my example above; I could walk into a room of well established, wealthy white people, say for elite an event, and be completely switched from a tranquil mindset to the extreme opposite of being an imposter

Why?

Because eyes speak more than words can in such situations, and the language the eyes speak can be harrowing

Words did not need to be said

You could already feel the classification of the ‘other’ in the beaming air for whatever reason that might be....

Black and British

The dots that don’t seem to fully connect

A question that poses itself to me daily

To feel ancient and exempt from racism in society, to the issues that are felt directly in the black community

Which bricks are to, or can be broken down first?

And how do we tackle them? Separately or together?

The things I mean that are not typically obvious to those outside the Black British space

Yet the rhythms and energy of Black British culture can be seen all across society

From music, clothes and language

It transcends British society, adding more beauty and colour to its bloody past

Can one be Black and British if their ancestors were not born here, yet directly paved the way for the structures in this society and the British empire to strive, quite literally through the painful history of slavery?

Or does that no longer matter as slavery is now deemed ‘outdated’, yet the significant implications of it and colonisation have haunted us and many other countries previously and still under the British empire to this very day

Black and British

The dots that don’t seem to connect, and I cannot be deemed as both in society, that constantly classes me as the ‘other’

Chains that I wish I could break very quickly

Will I have to make an even louder noise with the remaining chains that I have left for something to be done?

Black and British

Will the dots connect?

Black and British, the dots will connect where I place my thoughts in between the two, in a place of birth and race, despite how outsider opinions may linger, my feelings are much more significant

Black and British...

The dots finally connect